


i want you close (and close ain’t close enough)

by TheTinyTortoise



Category: His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman, 人渣反派自救系统 - 墨香铜臭 | The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System - Mòxiāng Tóngxiù
Genre: Alternate Universe - His Dark Materials Fusion, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 16:53:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24100129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTinyTortoise/pseuds/TheTinyTortoise
Summary: Shen Qingqiu waits until poor Du Nian has vanished down the peak before he brings his fan down against the crown of Hao Rong’s head with a crack! He turns up his nose at Hao Rong’s piteous whine.“You just mortified that poor disciple!” Shen Qingqiu scolds.“But Shizun was ignoring me,” Hao Rong whines.
Relationships: Luò Bīnghé/Shěn Yuán | Shěn Qīngqiū
Comments: 19
Kudos: 239





	i want you close (and close ain’t close enough)

**Author's Note:**

> Please be patient with me if any of the Chinese names or the phrasing in how everyone talks is a little off! I did my best, but I speak almost no Chinese, so I was kind of flying blind as I wrote this. Let me know if there’s anything I should edit!
> 
> In Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe’s world, all of the usual rules relating to daemons still apply. The only thing that’s a little different is that it’s not unusual for demons to have same-sex daemons. They’re also more likely to have daemons that take fantastical forms.

Du Nian would give his life for his Shizun. All of the disciples of Qing Jing Peak would. Shizun is strict with them, yes, but it’s only because he cares. Despite all of the rumors that float around him, he’s never been cruel to them. And at least he doesn’t beat the crap out of them like Liu Qingge does with his disciples and call it training.

Still, even though Du Nian deeply admires his Shizun, he has to admit:

Shizun is scary when he wants to be.

Du Nian hunches his shoulders beneath Shizun’s patient stare. He’s been sitting across from Shizun for five minutes, and Shizun hasn’t said a single word. Of course, Du Nian knows exactly why he’s been summoned to see Shizun-the throbbing bruise on his left eye makes that pretty clear-but he wishes that Shizun would say something already. The silence is worse than any screaming tirade.

Jin Xue, making herself as tiny as possible as a mouse, shivers within his sleeve. Though there’s no possible way she could know that the other daemon is there, the white face of Shizun’s owl daemon swivels towards Du Nian’s arm.

Du Nian breaks out into a cold sweat as he remembers abruptly that owls eat mice.

Shizun snaps his fan shut, and Du Nian jumps. It’s the first time Shizun’s moved in at least two minutes.

“Well?” Shizun asks. “Is there anything you would care to share with this master?”

Du Nian wishes that Jin Xue was in the form of something larger and fluffier so that he could hug her to his chest. “.....no, Shizun.”

One of Shizun’s sleek black brows creeps an inch up his forehead. 

“No?” He inquires.

Du Nian stares down at his hands, balled up in fists on top of his knees. “This disciple has nothing to report, Shizun.”

Shizun’s owl clicks her beak, unimpressed.

“As leader of this sect, this master has a duty to maintain the health of all of his disciples,” Shizun says. He leans forwards and taps Du Nian’s cheekbone with his fan. Du Nian winces. “Clearly, he has failed in this duty.”

Du Nian bows his head. “I fell, Shizun. That’s all.”

Shizun’s lips thin. “Do not insult this master’s intelligence.”

The temperature seems to drop a degree or two, and Jin Xue squeaks in terror. Du Nian is so focused on not falling into a dead faint from fright that he doesn’t notice the hulking creature that emerges from the woods and lopes towards them. That is, until it’s nearly on top of them.

He shrieks and points, scrambling backwards. “Shizun, look, behind you-“ he screeches. Jin Xue shifts into a little swallow and explodes from his sleeve in a wild flurry of feathers.

Shizun and his owl turn their heads in unison to look. Rather than pulling out his sword or flinging a spell like Du Nian is rather hoping he will, however, Shizun merely sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Hao Rong, I thought I told you to stop scaring the disciples,” he says to the beast, which, at a closer viewpoint, seems to be a cross between a wolf and a bear. It’s huge, more than half Du Nian’s height. Its tongue is lolling out, which should be reassuring, but instead it makes Du Nian shudder, because he can see hundreds of dripping fangs within its open mouth.

Shizun turns back to Du Nian. “Do not be frightened,” he says. “This is merely Lord Luo’s daemon. He will not hurt you.”

“That is Lord Luo’s daemon?” Du Nian squeaks. Hao Rong looks more like a beast from hell than anyone’s soul. And if he’s here, where is Lord Luo?

“Indeed,” Shizun says, shooting Du Nian a Look. Du Nian wisely shuts his mouth and swallows down any other comments he might be inclined to make about Lord Luo’s daemon. It’s clear that they will not be well-received.

Cautiously, Jin Xue lands on Du Nian’s shoulder. Du Nian tries not to think about how Lord Luo’s daemon could swallow her whole in a single bite.

“This Master is dedicated to ensuring the well-being of all his students,” Shizun says, flicking open his fan. He begins to fan himself, lightly ruffling his owl’s feathers in the process. “If there is anything you would like to bring to this master’s attention regarding his relations with the other students…..”

Shizun keeps talking, but a low buzz replaces his voice in Du Nian’s ears. He can’t concentrate on Shizun’s words. He’s too busy staring as Lord Luo’s daemon bumps his nose against Shizun’s free hand. His bare hand. A blush flames across Du Nian’s cheeks as the daemon nuzzles against Shizun’s hand not once, not twice, but three times. 

Du Nian has no idea what to do. Should he look away? But, wouldn’t it be rude not to look at Shizun while he’s talking?

Lord Luo’s daemon huffs when Shizun keeps talking and makes no outward sign of noticing him. Du Nian has to close his teeth on a strangled scream when Lord Luo’s daemon closes his teeth around Shizun’s hand. He’s very gentle-if he wasn’t, Shizun would be without a hand, because Lord Luo’s daemon is just that big-but he’s still biting him.

Is this allowed?

Mortified, Jin Xue shifts into a small grass snake and slithers beneath Du Nian’s collar to hide.

“Du Nian?”

“Yes, Shizun?” Du Nian blurts out, gaze snapping back to Shizun. Shizun is wearing an expectant expression, and is clearly waiting for some kind of response. He’s not showing any outward sign of discomfort from being touched by Lord Luo’s daemon. If anything, there’s a slight blush across his cheekbones, but that could just be Du Nian’s imagination.

“This master said,” Shizun says, drawing his hand from the mouth of Lord Luo’s daemon and placing it in his lap. Du Nian almost collapses in relief. “that he is aware that there are some disciples that currently are not reflecting the ideals of this sect in how they choose to behave. However, he cannot condone other disciples taking the matter of disciplining these individuals into their own hands.”

Du Nian ducks his head. “Yes, Shizun.”

“This master has chosen not to inflict punishment upon his disciple for instigating a violent altercation this time. However-ack!”

Du Nian can hardly believe his ears. Before this moment, he would not have thought that his graceful and elegant Shizun was capable of making such an undignified sound. However, in Shizun’s defense, he cannot imagine anyone who would be able to remain perfectly poised when a beast as enormous as Lord Luo’s daemon flung himself into their lap.

Du Nian claps his hands over his eyes. This kind of scene is not meant for lowly disciples like himself. Still, the image superimposes itself across his eyelids. Even with his eyes closed, all he can see is Lord Luo’s daemon, sprawled across Shizun’s lap. The image of Shizun’s pale hands sinking into all of that thick fur pops into his head, and he squeaks in abject horror. No, no, no-he can’t think such things about his beloved Shizun!

“Hao Rong!” Shizun’s owl snaps. “How shameless!”

“Shizun,” Du Nian whimpers. “Shizun, should this disciple-er, may this disciple-“

“You are dismissed,” Shizun says in a slightly strained voice.

Du Nian doesn’t need to be told twice. He’s up and running in less than a second. His friend and fellow disciple, Mei Fen, is never going to believe this-that is, if Du Nian can even bring himself to get the story out without dying of embarrassment in the first place!

Shen Qingqiu waits until poor Du Nian has vanished down the peak before he brings his fan down against the crown of Hao Rong’s head with a crack! He turns up his nose at Hao Rong’s piteous whine.

“You just mortified that poor disciple!” Shen Qingqiu scolds. 

“But Shizun was ignoring me,” Hao Rong whines.

“Because we were busy!” Xu Shi huffs, beating her wings a few times with the force of her irritation. “We’ve talked about this, Hao Rong!”

Hao Rong burrows his face into Shen Qingqiu’s midsection and refuses to say another word.

Shen Qingqiu rubs his temples. Really, what he has to put up with….. 

“Where is Binghe?” he asks.

The words have barely passed his lips when a pair of black-clad arms curve around his shoulders and Binghe nuzzles his cheek against Shen Qingqiu’s from behind.

“This husband has missed Shizun,” he purrs. 

Shen Qingqiu should push him away, but he’s only a man, after all. “It’s barely been four hours, Binghe,” he says.

“Four hours too many,” Binghe pouts. He trails a finger down Xu Shi’s back, and Shen Qingqiu’s knees turn to jelly. He can’t stay mad at Binghe when he touches Xu Shi like that. And Xu Shi is no help-as much as she tries to play at being aloof, she always bites Binghe when he tries to stop petting her. “Has Shizun also missed Binghe?”

Shen Qingqiu sighs. He scratches behind Hao Rong’s ears, enjoying the way Binghe goes boneless and slumps against his back with a purr. “This husband supposes that he has.”

A sneaking suspicion flits into his mind. “Did Binghe…..send Hao Rong to chase off the disciple?”

Binghe presses a kiss to his cheek. “Dinner is ready,” he says cheerfully. “Come eat.” Quick as a flash, he unpeels himself from Shen Qingqiu’s back and returns to the cottage with a bounce in his step. Hao Rong leaps up from Shen Qingqiu’s lap and bounds after him.

“Really,” Shen Qingqiu grumbles. He shakes his head at Xu Shi. “White lotus, my ass!”

**Author's Note:**

> Xu Shi, Shen Qingqiu’s daemon, is an Eastern barn owl! Her name when she was born was Jiao Shi, but, like Shen Yuan, she adopted the name of Shen Jiu’s daemon when they transmigrated. She looks something like this: https://images.app.goo.gl/qaWk1kb8jrWZMueP9
> 
> Hao Rong, Luo Binghe’s daemon, is a Caucasian Ovcharka. He’s a very big boy, to say the least. He looks something like this: https://images.app.goo.gl/eE1Ax6uZ4DKQsnXk7


End file.
